Breast Feeding vs, swithing to Formula

[Anonymous]

So I should talk to GI about her Zantac dose and also her Prevacid dose. I will call them on Monday.

She is scheduled for her 2mths shots on Monday but with everything going on I don’t know if that is such a good idea. Ugh….

[hellbennt]

you don’t have to call per se….( again, please excuse the wonky post w/ all the underlined blue!)

FAX FAX FAX
the dr

dont wait
for a call…

start off w/
a THANK YOU

keep it
short & sweet

stick to the
facts (no feelings and no rambling emotions)

state
current meds, doses, symptoms

make
request- flat out- short & sweet

THANK AGAIN

follow up by
calling office to say fax was sent

call again
later to discuss requests in fax, ie: have you
called in the increased prescription yet? THANK YOU

sample fax: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10633&PID=90325#90325

About faxing the doctor
(& more): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2841&TPN=1

hellbennt2009-11-21 21:05:20

[Anonymous]

okay will try that route with the GI doc.

For now, I have been out here reading all day long and I see your (laura)posts all over.

So I think you are best to ask.

I am really thinking about trying the Alimentum formula and continuing to pump.

Do you know how soon you think I should be able to tell if this is helping her or not? And do you know of anyone that has tried this route or point me to a post that I could read about someones experience?

Although…. I see that Alimentum formula is for baby’s that have suspect milk allergy and I am still suspect of that???? confused!!!

[Anonymous]

i think you need to get on a decent dose of PPI before you try formula. our ped wanted me to try sylvia on formula—but kevin just didn’t want me to do it—-which is funny, because he usually doesn’t have that much of an opinion on those kind of things, so we didn’t give her the alimentum. she actually ended up with a fundo, but most babies don’t need that. i just don’t think that formula is a better option over mother’s milk. but that is just my opinion.

when my twins were babies, i gave them goat milk when i wasn’t nursing them—this was after spending all night and into the the next day with them fussing after having a bottle of enfamil—which they had previously had without a problem, i might add.

i wonder if there is a possibility she could have thrush, either orally or in her esophagus—-since you mentioned she gets a rash on her bum.

kevieb2009-11-22 00:04:11

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

First off, I’m so sorry that you are going through this. You are making a wonderful effort to help your little one, and you should be proud of yourself. It’s a LOT of work. That’s why it felt so great when your husband acknowledged the work of it. It’s hard work!

Secondly, if you want to continue breastfeeding, by all means….go for it! It is fully possible and also medically the best thing to do. The folks encouraging you to try formula are concerned for the baby, hoping that using formula is a “better way” because that is what they are used to or comfortable with, and sadly misinformed about reflux. B-milk is much easier to digest and has antacid properties. Formula does not. I know the diet seems daunting, but it is actually not that hard once you have options. Options of what you can eat that taste good and are healthy will help with the sadness about giving up other things you enjoy eating. The thing to remember is that your baby is only little like this for a short time in the big scheme of things. When you see the diet make a difference, like you said you thought you did with the dairy, it makes all the sacrifices worth it.

Third, both my son (5 yrs) and daughter (14 mos) have food sensitivities, or protein intolerances. They do not have food allergies. They grew fine. They did not have blood in their stools– or if they did it wasn’t obvious to me. they did not have lots of green stools, even had seedy mustardy stools and had mucous but not a hugely alarming amount. But they both were PROLIFIC with spitting up, unbelieveable fussy, miserable babies who could not sleep well for a loooooong time until we were able to figure out both the healthy and appropriately high doses of ppi drugs and the foods that were bothering their systems. You do not have to have blood or green or mucous all the time or even most of the time for babies to have some issue. I think a fussy baby is trying to tell you something. You are right on to look for the higher/appropriate recommended dose of ppi drug through MARCI kids. I followed Laura’s advice on faxing and had GREAT results. I printed the MArci kids info, faxed it all over, asked to change doses and actually to have three doses of ppi instead of two. Over the years I have asked to go on a different ppi (zegerid) and several different things through what I learned on these forums. Both my children were not helped until the ppi dose was really high, like at the maximum amount. Zantac did nearly nothing for our second child, it worked for about six days before becoming completely ineffective.

Also, something else to consider, I had other issues complicating our reflux and that was overactive letdown with my milk and oversupply with my milk. There are ways around these issues, but they definitely played their role for me, especially with my second, when my milk supply was even higher. Just throwing that out there as a possible factor.

Oh, I gotta run, little one is crying!! Hang in there! Best regards!

[Anonymous]

THANKS so much for your posts I read them this morning and made me feel like I could do this. So… my husband and I discussed a plan ( in the middle of my tears).

So here is what we are going to try and do.

On Monday I am going to talk to the GI doc and she also has a Pedi appt already scheduled for monday.

I am going to continue to avoid dairy and hidden ones. But I am going to ADD AVOIDING SOY. This is a tough one for me since I eat a lot of vegeterian things. So I am going to need some help with foods so any suggestions you have will be helpful.

Thanks for the stool info.

I can already notice a difference in her today. I didn’t have any soy today like I did yesterday. Yesterday I had soy cream cheese so I am thinking that really spun her up, because she had a really rough day yesterday. OR it is the fact that I did start back up the 2xday Zantac yesterday and also spreading the PPI 4hrs apart from the Zantac. So it is hard to say which is working for her. Who cares at this point as long as something is working!!

With all this being said…. she is a good sleeper. Last night she went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 5am and then went back down until 9am. I was almost alarmed about the whole thing. She is only 2mths old and my son was a horrible sleeper where she is not. She naps good and sleeps well at night.

I have been noticing the OALD and when I see her struggling with it I pull her off and let the let down happen and then put her back on. I never noticed that with my son.

Thanks for the support and encourgement.

I will let you all know how I make out tomorrow with GI doc.

[Anonymous]

I am going to talk to Pedi about her rash on her bottom. It was gone yesterday but today it is back.

[Anonymous]

Hey Erin,

can you help me with some of the foods you were eating on the TED list. I do think it would be less overwhelming to focus on the things I can eat and not what I can’t.

I did think of what I can do for Thanksgiving. I will make 2 things that I can eat and bring them with me to the thanksgiving dinner that way I don’t have to hear a bunch of crap from my family about what I am NOT eating. I guess they are just trying to help but they just have no idea what I am going through with all of this.

[hellbennt]

MSPI Recipes:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=37

TED Recipes:
https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=44

came across this link I have saved:

 

breastfeeding a reflux
baby: post w/ link to shelby’s
breastfeeding blurb & Paula’s breastfeeding 2 MSPI refluxers:

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10173&PID=87204#87204

this link is for toddler food, but you might get some ideas here:

 

Toddler foods-mspi safe & otherwise: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2599&PN=1

hellbennt2009-11-22 18:32:03

[Anonymous]

Hi!

Sorry I haven’t responded since yesterday afternoon – things are crazy here as usual :).

Let me know how else I can help… I am a food guru as Evan is still intolerant/allergic to many many things.

Here’s some info (I wrote this in the spring so sorry if it seems outdated re: Evan’s age, etc)…

I can give lots of ideas of what I ate/eat. If you’re just starting to look into TED then be sure to check out Dianne’s stickied post on TED as well as Dr. Sear’s website.

General info (from Dianne):

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7497

Food ideas (from Dianne):

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7498

I do a lot of convenience type stuff. At 1st I was doing everything by hand & fresh but it was so time consuming. You still have to cook some of this but it’s just put it on the stove to simmer (covered) for 10min, flip & cook for 6min more -done!

For the potatoes I ate lots of the Lays Kettle Cooked chips. Also, the Ore Ida hash browns/diced potatoes (frozen) are easy & have TED friendly ingredients. SOOOOO much easier than dicing potatoes up like I did for the 1st 2 mths. Also, Simply Potatoes have hash browns, potato slices & red potato wedges that are super easy & TED friendly. These are in the fridge section by the eggs usually. Also, fwiw – Wendy’s french fries are TED friendly & the only fries that Evan can tolerate – I eat a LOT of them. I also made my own fries but again, so time consuming.

(Just wanted to add that the Wendy’s fries work for US <probably not everyone though>… they do have soy oil in them, but soy oil doesn’t contain soy protein. Even soy allergic ppl can tolerate soy oil in most cases. At his most sensitive Evan was tolerating these.)

For pears I ate lots of Del Monte canned slices. Again, it’s the convenience since I have a toddler as well. I do fresh as well, but takes more time. I drink a lot of Gerber pear juice. Also the Looza pear nectar… but it has a lot of sugar in it & is a bit too sweet to drink as a “juice”. Sometimes I’ll have pear cups or pureed baby food pears.

For squash & zucchini I usually just have fresh but I’ve started buying frozen to use when I’m in a hurry & want to have it for lunch.

So, that’s the things I ate (besides beef). I’ll share what I usually ate before I cut out the sweet potatoes, rice & turkey.

For sweet potatoes I usually ate a fresh one but I microwaved it in the Ziploc brand steam bags. SOOOOO easy!!! Just put it in the bag & microwave for 10min. I’ve made sweet pot fries, chips & wedges… all yummy but very time consuming. I’ve also bought Ore Ida Steam ‘N Mash… you just heat & then mash them up for mashed sweet potatoes – again, TED friendly.

For rice I ate a lot of the Ewehorn rice cereal w/ rice milk. Brown rice too. I had some rice pasta but wasn’t a super fan of it. I made rice pudding a couple times & it was a good change… same w/ the rice grits. I made TED sugar cookies (w/ rice flour) & TED rice krispy treats (w/ brown rice syrup) but both were not super appealing ;).

For turkey I usually ate ground turkey, turkey burgers, turkey cutlets or a cooked turkey breast.

What I usually did was make a dinner of either ground turkey, rice & veggies OR diced potatoes, turkey cutlets & veggies then make enough for 2 dinners & 3 lunches.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you re: feeling starving & like you can’t eat anything is to have ‘snacks’ on hand & also to plan your meals as much as possible – that way you don’t ever starve yourself (b/c your supply will suffer if you’re not careful) & you’re not tempted to cheat b/c you’re so hungry.

erinntx2009-11-22 20:27:28

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

What Erin has to say it soooo right on! Having things at Thanksgiving will help you so much. I have to say that i’ve done all the holidays on a majorly modified diet and I will be this year, too. I feel you, sister!!! You could make your own Turkey, then make a potato thing and have some sort of green beans or fruit on teh side. Everyone will be in shock and probably giving you the whole “oh we feel so badly for you, you shouldn’t have to do this” sort of thing. Be prepared. It’s worse at a holiday than regular meals. But I just smile nad say that I have nice things to eat and it’s helping the baby SOOO Much and that seems to calm folks down. Just preparing you for the onslaught. Unfortunately, that’s part of the reality with this kind of hting.

Another topic, my little ones reacted badly to soy and dairy. My daughter, 14 mos reacted to peas and peanuts and really all nuts, although not as badly to the tree nuts. When I removed these items it improved things but the soy was the kicker for her and us. There is a butter alternative that’s got no dairy and no soy but a smidge of corn called EArth Balance and I get it at Whole Foods or mom and pop vitamin type store or even your regular grocery might have it. It’s red and yellow in a round tub. I’ll have to write more later about foods. I have a list here:https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7715

Obviously, you don’t need to be gluten free initially, if you don’t want, but I needed to be and so this list is set up that way. But it will give you ideas. Smoothie and eggs were our breakfast for a long time. Eggs are a problem for some kiddos, but not for mine, thankfully. Anyways, more later!!

xo and hang in there! Good for you to keep going with breastfeeding if that’s what you want to do! Yay!

[Anonymous]

hey gang.

Shhhh don’t want to say it too loud but we are having a pretty good day!!!

Talked to GI doc yesterday and they increased her PPI to 7.5mg in morning and 7.5mg at dinner. She was just on 7.5mg once a day.

And she is on the Zantac (same dose) 1.3 twice a day. GI doc said it was okay for 2hrs from teh PPI. ( I know someone said 4hrs but that is hard to do sometimes).

Still I have had no dairy and no soy….

So my plan of attack this week is to see how she does on the new dose and continue the no dairy, no soy and see how things roll. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I also have a plan of attack for the turkey day dinner. I am going to make a turnip dish and also a squash/mushroom dish to take with me. This way it will look like I am just contributing to the dinner instead of making a separate dish for myself. And just try and stay out of radar. If she is doing good on meds and is having a good day. I can just answer the questions….. as she is doing good and leave it at that. And if they are ask about my eating habits I will just say yeah doing whatever it takes to make her happy.

Thanks for all your support.

I do have that butter with no dairy, no soy and it is a godsend!

[hellbennt]

glad to read your news!
I would also say that 2hrs b/t the prevacid and the zantac, is ok, too. MOST drs say 4 or even 5 hrs, so that’s what I always post. BUT, our dr said 2hrs & it seemed to work for my ds…
remember you can always increase the zantac if you think it’s needed:
4mls a day of zantac that your baby can be getting (rather than the 2.6 mls a day she’s currently taking)
make sure to give zantac 2 hrs from the prevacid

AND: don’t just take my word for this! read below!

Zantac dosing- my/other’s question (has axid & pepcid dose,
too):

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8288&PN=1

[Anonymous]

now because she had such a good day and night I feel like she is all drugged up….

But now I just wonder how long before she starts to feel crapy again.

We have a GI doc appt on the 30th I wonder if we will make it to that day.

[Anonymous]

sooo glad to hear it was a good day. I interpret that as the meds are finally at a better dose to address her pain. When you think about it that way, at least for me, I don’t feel so bad about the “drugged up” aspect. If it was an adult and they finally found relief at a more appropriate and healthy dose of a medication, you wouldn’t necessarily think of them as drugged up, right?

Also, if things do get worse, we gave the ppi drug THREE times a day. That’s waht MARCI-kids recommends for the little ones, anyway and it helped so much. It made all the difference when we got onto a healthy and appropriate dose, but then when we went from two to three doses in a day, WOW, that was what gave me my daughter back. so, keep that in mind. There is definitely room for you to wiggle. And I haven’t checked the dose of ppi, but you should check on http://www.marci-kids.com to see what the recommend, they have a dose calculator. Then you’ll know if there is wiggle room with the dosage as well. Makes you feel better knowing that there are things that can be done if it gets worse again. Enjoy your happy girl! Happy THanksgiving!

[Author]

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